“Hel our Queen”: An Old Norse Analogue to an old English Female Hell

Abstract

One of the most arresting characters in medieval literature, appearing in the Old English Gospel of Nicodemus, is seo hell, an apparently female chthonic figure who engages in a memorable flyting with Satan and orders him out of “her” dwelling (ut of mýnre onwununge) Her vivid personification in a dramatically excellent scene suggests that her gender is more than grammatical, and invites comparison with the Old Norse underworld goddess Hel and the Frau Hölle of German folklore, to say nothing of underworld goddesses in other cultures.